Fanning the Flames
by kendraDrake
Summary: Remy and Jaleena think they're finally beginning to figure things out - in their relationship and in terms of their family. But just as they think things are beginning to settle down, a new secret is revealed. Newest chapter of my Smoke and Flames series. Rated M for adult content in later chapters. Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

Paste standard disclaimer here: I don't own the X-men, but the OCs are all mine. This isn't for profit, it's for fun. But please, don't steal my stuff. I'm happy to share if you ask.

I'm not spending a lot of time reintroducing characters here, so if you'd like to know the backstory, it's important that you read "Wisps of Smoke" and "Where there's Smoke..." "Just a Spark" and "Fatherhood" will also provide some additional context, but aren't really necessary for the plot.

If this is your first time reading, I'll let you know that I love reviews, and it often spurs me to write more quickly. I also welcome any PMs with questions and ideas about the story's progression. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 1

Jaleena chewed on her thumb nail as she stared at her computer screen. She had never been patient, despite her best efforts to at least try to be. She checked the time again. Remy was fifteen minutes late. With a groan, she pushed herself back in her desk chair, running a hand through her curly black hair and staring at the ceiling tiles. While he'd never been punctual, he was also rarely this late for their morning meetings.

She and Remy had been trying to carry on a long distance…what was it exactly? A flirtation? A relationship? Even though they were still technically married, she tossed out that label almost immediately. What did you call an insane attraction, but no touching? A lot of reminiscing about old times, and shameless flirting? Oops, who could forget the clear lack of trust on both sides? Oh, and toss in the fact that you have a really pushy kid together. That about summed it up.

It had been difficult for them both, but they'd managed well in the two months since she'd left the X-Mansion after helping with a unique student situation. Their communication mostly involved an early-morning for him/mid-afternoon for her video call. If his schedule allowed it, they might have another phone chat or at least a few text messages before she went to bed at night. She smiled to herself, recalling the few mornings when she'd woken up to a particular romantic text message that he'd sent the previous night before he'd gone to sleep. They were making progress, but they had a ways to go.

It had certainly been hard—trying to juggle both of their busy schedules as teachers to carve out time for each other, and she had to admit that the situation did make her nervous. Did she trust him? She began nibbling on another nail, her pinky this time. Of course she did—well, she did a little. The problem was that she still didn't really know him. They had been apart for 16 years, and they were both very different adults than they had been as teenagers. She knew trying to get to know each other with an ocean separating them was difficult, but she was also very aware that it was much easier for her than it was for him.

During their time apart, she hadn't dated. At all. It had been a form of self-inflicted penance for leading him to believe that she had been dead all this time. Well, that and she hadn't wanted to open herself up again. Losing her family had just been too difficult and had taken her too long to recover from. Remy, on the other hand, had moved on with his life. He had dated—a lot—if her daughter Jubilee was to be believed, and she knew first hand that he'd been involved in a several-year long relationship with one of his fellow X-Men. Even when he had been a teenager, Remy LeBeau just wasn't the sort of man who remained celibate for long. Even when he was on his best behavior, there was something about him that made women throw themselves at him.

Groaning, she folded her arms on the desk and rested her head on them. What was taking him so long? Her mind began to race in a completely different direction. What if something had happened to him? Sitting back, she shook her head. No, Jubilee would have called her. Or Hank or Rogue or Xavier. He was probably fine. She began to bite the nail on her index finger, caught herself, and sighed. There went another manicure. Keesha would kill her.

She was brought out of her thoughts by the dinging of her computer screen. She quickly clicked on the "Accept" button that had popped up. She let out a breath of relief when his face appeared on the screen. He obviously had just woken up as the room was dark and he was propped up on some pillows in bed. He was shirtless and his long auburn hair was swept over one shoulder to spread across his chest. "Sorry, chere," he began. "It was a late night last night, and Remy slept through his alarm."

A small thrill went through her as it did every time she heard his Cajun accented voice. Refocusing on the conversation, she arched an eyebrow at him, "Late night, huh?"

He grinned at her. "Yeah. Remy had ladies chasing after him all night," he teased, winking at her.

She couldn't help but chuckle at that, deciding to tease back rather than be goaded into jealousy in such an obvious ploy. "Did Jubilee and her girlfriends try to chase you down to braid your hair again? Or did they want to use curlers this time."

He laughed and shook his head. "No. De kids wanted to do a late-night capture de flag session, and de boys wanted me as deir captain."

"Ahh," she said, leaning back in her chair, the grin still curving her lips. "Did your team win?"

"Of course not," he scoffed. "What kinda father would I be if I didn't help Jubilee win?"

She just rolled her eyes. "Uh huh," she said, not convinced. "I'm sure it was all about you 'letting' the girls win."

He just winked at her and scooted up in the bed a bit, giving her a better view of his broad, tanned chest. She barely kept herself from sighing dreamily at the lovely view. There were benefits to his tardiness. Since he was a late riser and they spoke rather early for his standards (8:00 a.m. was "the crack of dawn" according to Remy), he often was still in bed when they talked. Secretly, she loved those days. It meant something to her to be the first one he spoke to in the morning, not to mention the fact that he looked incredibly sexy with his hair mussed and still blinking sleep from his eyes.

He must have noticed the way she was looking at him, because a slow smile spread across his lips. Luckily, before he could say whatever he'd been thinking, he was interrupted by a banging on his door. He muted the computer and seemed to have a conversation with someone at the door before he sighed and repositioned himself in bed, making the screen bounce. It was only a few more minutes until there was more bouncing and Jubilee joined him in the bed, waving her hands and talking a mile a minute.

"You're still muted!" Jaleena laughed.

Remy clicked a button and she could hear them. "Can you believe dis?" Remy was dramatically complaining, "Remy only get to talk to you once a day, and dis one jus' think she can interrupt. Dat's not fair. How is a man supposed to romance a woman with dis pipsqueek always horning in?"

Jubilee rolled her eyes and punched him in the shoulder. "Come on, I waited like 20 minutes or something."

Jaleena laughed. "See, Remy? She was being considerate. It's not her fault you overslept." She laughed at his pained expression and addressed her next question to her duaghter, "So Jubilee, tell me how you kicked your father's butt last night."

Jubilee grinned and launched into details about the previous night's battle. Jaleena spent the remaining 40 minutes of the call watching them bicker and argue over the retelling of the story. By the time they ended the call, she felt light and extremely happy. While she enjoyed her time alone with Remy, it was an unexpected treat to get to watch the two of them interact. She blew them both a kiss as she disconnected and gathered up the items she'd need to teach her 2 p.m. class. She had just started writing the week's assignments on the board when her students started filing into the room, talking about what they'd done over the weekends. Violet came in with a group of students and fluttered to the front of the room, and Jaleen felt some of her good mood dissipate.

Violet had grown increasingly anxious after the death of her husband, Crake. She had always been the most dramatic of the group, but it was different now. She was more quiet about her fears, often letting them build up before sharing them with anyone. Her brows were drawn together now, showing that something was up. They had been close once, but since she'd lost Crake, the only ones Violet seemed to let in were Lee and FireStar. Jaleena hated the distance, but had long ago accepted that it wasn't something likely to change.

Jaleena set down the dry erase marker and turned to her friend, "Hey Vi, what's up?"

Violet's wings fluttered nervously, and she was wringing her hands. "I'm not sure. I know someone is off the coast requesting to speak with you. Laurel asked me to cover your class for you so you could check it out." She looked over her shoulder at the students, a worried frown on her face. "I don't know why she'd want me to do it. I'm terrible with science."

Leena patted her friend's shoulder. It was true. Violet was terrible with science. If Ore, the headmistress of the school, had sent Violet, then whatever was off the coast of the island wasn't good news. "I'm sure you'll do fine, Vi. You never give yourself enough credit." She showed Violet her lesson plans, said a few words to the students, and headed out the door and down the long winding hallway. When she reached Ore's office, she was surprised to see the rest of the team gathered there already. Immediately, she felt the remainder of her good mood vanish.

"What's going on?" she asked as she stepped inside and pulled the door closed behind her. She frowned when she saw Violet's son Lee sitting at Ore's desk, his eyes closed in concentration, and his hand resting atop an old communication radio. As a mutant with the ability to manipulate sound waves, it was likely he was the first to have realized someone was trying to contact them.

Ore sighed and rubbed at her temple. "There's a call that's come in for you. She won't speak to anyone else."

"Who?" Jaleena asked as she moved closer to the desk.

Ore exchanged a glance with her husband Joey before answering. Taking a deep breath, she replied, "Terravin."

Jaleena's brow drew into a scowl. After the last battle they'd had with an opposing mutant group that had included the defeat of their leader, she hadn't expected to hear from them again. Especially so soon. "What does she want?" She asked, "Revenge for Onyx?"

Lee shook his head, opening his eyes. He had jet black hair and looked so much like his father had at his age that her heart ached to look at him. "No. She just wants to talk to you."

"How do you know that?" Laurel asked, and then she frowned. "I thought she hadn't said anything since asking for Leena. Is she talking to you? Lee…" her voice took on a note of warning.

He rolled his eyes and shook his head, "Really, Aunt Laurel. It's fine. She doesn't know I can hear her even when the radio is off." He looked back at Jaleena again and his face took on a more serious expression. "Trust me, you are going to want to talk to her."

Jaleena sighed and held her hand out for the old-fashioned microphone. Pressing the large button on the handle, she said, "This is Jaleena Greyson. Who am I speaking with?"

There was some static before an unnaturally high-pitched voice replied, "Greyson, is it? And here I expected you to have gone back to your other last name. Things not working out so well with Remy?"

Jaleena ignored the jibe, "What do you want?"

There was static again, but for a longer span of time. Finally, the voice returned, "You need to come out to the boat. I need to speak with you."

More glances were exchanged in the room. "I don't like it," Ore said. "It's too dangerous." Several others nodded in agreement.

"We've never been able to trust her," FireStar said, "Or any of them. If you go, I'll go with you. I owe that witch." Her lime-green eyes with a slitted pupil narrowed with the words.

"I agree," Joey broke in with his deep, burred voice. "It's too risky to send you out there alone, and we cannae all go and leave the children undefended."

"Well, I don't like the idea of her coming here either," Jaleena responded. "So we'll have to come to some sort of compromise." She pressed the button down on the microphone again. "If you have something to say, Terravin, say it now."

The response came immediately this time, "This isn't something I'm going to say over a radio. It's going to have to be face-to-face."

Ore sighed before asking, "Lee, is there anything that you've heard that implies she might be up to something?"

He shook his head, "No. She really does just want to talk to Aunt Leena."

Ore nodded. "Okay, the south beach then. She can come ashore but doesn't leave the beach. We'll all be there to stand guard. Leena, before she gets there, I want a full perimeter check to make sure there isn't anything else going on that shouldn't be. Lee, you stay inside. It's your job to make sure none of the students or other teachers find out anything is amiss. Got it?"

Lee nodded, and Jaleena compressed the button again. "I'm not coming out, but you can come ashore. We'll meet you on the beach on the south side of the island." She let go of the button and looked at Lee. "Disconnect us, please."

He nodded and the static cut off abruptly. Jaleena reached into her pocket to pull out a rubber band. She twisted her hair into a braid and followed the rest of the group out of the building toward the thin strip of sand that circled the island. She stepped forward, away from the rest and closed her eyes. Concentrating, she sent out a small burst of air molecules in every direction, noting exactly where the molecules bounced back when they hit something. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, but she ignored it. Whoever it was, they could wait. When she opened her eyes, she shook her head at the group gathered behind her. "I think Bruce has a group of students out running drills on the opposite end of the island, but nothing else is out there. Just one boat. If there's anything beneath the water," she shrugged, "that's the only thing that could catch us by surprise."

Ore nodded and glanced around. "Let's all be ready. Just in case. Firestar, I want you keeping an eye along the coast for anything that tries to creep out of the water. Let's fan out, people."

With that, everyone moved back, forming a loose circle around Jaleena. She crossed her arms under her breasts and looked out to see, watching as a small boat made steady progress toward her.

* * *

Remy closed his computer and elbowed Jubilee, who still sat next to him on the bed. "You better get," He said, "You already late for class, and Remy not going to be your excuse dis time."

She smiled toothily at him, completely ignoring his comment. Instead, she flopped to the other side of the bed so that she faced him. Resting her elbows on her knees, she set her chin on her fisted hands and said, "Sooo…how are things going?" She wiggled her eye brows at him.

Remy just rolled his eyes. "Dey'd be goin' a whole lot better if you'd quit inviting yourself to dese morning calls."

Jubilee just grinned, unabashed. "Don't you realize it's good for me to see you two interacting? I mean don't you think it's weird that I don't ever get to see the two of you together? Come on. If I stop joining you on these calls—and mom loves when I do, by the way—I might get some sort of stunted development where I don't know what a healthy relationship looks like!"

Remy threw a pillow at her in response. "Yeah, because your adopted parents didn't have a perfectly normal and healthy relationship. Dey were perfect, Remy happen to know dat for a fact."

She pouted, hugging the pillow to her stomach. After a moment, she grew serious. She bit her bottom lip and then asked, "Seriously, though. Are things going okay?"

He smiled, seeing the worry in her eyes. She'd been part of a scheme to get them back together during Jaleena's last visit to the mansion. He reached next to the bed, not having had a chance to have his morning cigarette yet. He took his time as he pulled one out and flicked a lighter, waiting for it to catch before answering. On a long exhale of smoke, he raised an eyebrow at her and asked, "Remy still getting up dis god-awful early for dese calls, ain't he? What does dat tell you?"

Jubilee grinned and bounced off the bed. "Good," she paused at the door to grin back at him, knowing he'd taken his time to reply on purpose. She pulled the door open halfway and said, "How about you don't screw it up, then? I hate having to fix my own father's romance problems all the time." She had just managed to pull the door closed when she heard the thump of another pillow hitting it.

Remy smiled and took a few more moments to savor his cigarette before he got up and headed to the bathroom to shower. He was happier than he'd been for a long time. The distance was enough to make him want to pull his hair out, but he could also see the good in it. He and Jaleena had been able to share a lot about what they'd been up to during their separation, and having a computer between them somehow made it easier to talk about the more difficult times-especially when she'd wanted to know about some of his past relationships. They could focus more easily on trying to get to know each other better considering that every time they were together in person, he wanted to lay hands on her: sometimes to strangle her and other times to do more pleasurable things to her. Still, they'd decided that they'd make sure Jubilee saw her at least once a quarter, and that left another month before he'd get to see her again. Frustrated by that thought, he pulled his hair back into a ponytail and shrugged on a leather jacket.

Luckily, Storm was taking a group of students to some planetarium on a field trip, so he only had one class to teach today. That left his whole afternoon open. He smiled and ran a hand over his jaw, feeling the stubble there. That was about the only benefit of Jaleena being so far away; he didn't have to shave every day in an effort to protect her sensitive skin. As he thought of her, he pulled his phone out and sent her a quick text:

_thinking of u. sorry we got interrupted. no plans later. can u talk 3 or 4 ET? want to see you again._

When she didn't reply immediately, he glanced at the clock and did some mental math. It was amazing how quickly one could become accustomed to adding five hours to the time. She'd still be in class, so he'd check his phone again after his class. Whistling, he set it on his desk and grabbed his keys as he headed out the door of his room, already looking forward to the afternoon.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Jaleena watched as a woman with strawberry blond hair slid first one leg and then the other over the side of her boat. She dropped easily into the water and pushed back the hair that had fallen into her face. Most of it was pulled back into a ponytail, but it was styled so that there were pieces cut artfully short in the front so that they could fall forward to hide the small, circular scars that marred an otherwise very pretty face. She wore jean shorts and a polo shirt, looking to the untrained eye like a simple suburban soccer mom. She stood for a moment in water that came up over her knees, just studying the group awaiting her. After a moment, she lifted her chin and walked forward, keeping her gaze on Jaleena. When she got to the shore, she took a small towel from the back of her pocket and dried off her legs, taking her time before finally addressing the woman who stood silently.

"Leena." She said simply, her voice high pitched and almost girlish.

"Terravin." Leena said, her voice frosty. "What do you want?"

Terravin sighed, "What? No how are you? Is everyone recovering well since I killed one of your closest friends? You really need to work on your manners." When Leena didn't reply and only continued to stand there with her arms crossed, Terravin sighed, the movement ruffling the hair that framed her face. "Fine. Have it your way. How about a little privacy."

Leena twitched a finger, raising a think wall to muffle their voices. "Done. Now talk."

For a moment, the woman just studied her, seeming to weigh her words carefully. She looked around the group standing and watching them and then back to Leena. "I don't know if you know this about me," she began, "but I have children. Three of them. They're all under seven at this point, but I love them very much." She glanced out over the ocean, fiddling with a ring she wore on her index finger. "Being a mother, it changes a lot of things. It makes you look at your world differently and makes you reevaluate a lot of things." She looked back at Leena. "I can't imagine what I would do if something happened to one of them. If they were taken from me or hurt, I think I'd go crazy."

Leena gritted her teeth before saying, "If you'll recall, I can tell you exactly how that feels."

Terravin's expression cycled through a series of emotions. Guilt, sadness, and then pity. "I know. That's why I'm here."

Jaleena tried to keep her face a stoic mask, but she couldn't completely hide the flicker of surprise she felt. She remained silent as the woman twisted the ring on her finger and opened her mouth to speak before closing it again. When Terravin turned her light green gaze back to Leena, she sighed, "I took my children and left after Onyx died. After the battle, we all regrouped. Some of us decided it was time to leave and go off on our own to try to live a normal life, but there were several who wanted to stay and plot revenge." She paused again, and Leena waited, if somewhat impatiently, her fingers drumming on her crossed arm. "I had been debating leaving for some time. Everything that happened that day convinced me that it'd be best to cut my ties, it'd be the best for my family."

Now it was Leena's turned to let out a frustrated breath. "Listen, that's all very nice, but I don't see what it has to do with me. If you're worried we're all still seeking you out, we're not. We want to be left alone as much as you do. What does this story have to do with me?"

Terravin looked very sad for a moment, "I'm afraid it has everything to do with you. You see, if I weren't a mother, I wouldn't be here right now to tell you this. Onyx is dead, but this war isn't over." She paused again, looking back at the ocean. She took a deep breath before continuing, "I mentioned that there was a group who stayed together. They're being led by Onyx's son."

Jaleena's eyes narrowed. She had known about Terravin's children. In fact, she'd used her research skills to keep tabs on all of the opposing group of mutants. She shook her head, "Onyx doesn't have a son."

Terravin's eyes grew even sadder. "Yes, he does. He kept him hid away, mostly at boarding schools, but when Vengeance turned 16 last year, he came home."

"Wait," Jaleena interrupted. "You are telling me that Onyx named his son Vengeance?" She scoffed.

Terravin nodded. "It's just a code name, but it's what Onyx always called him. He isn't a bad boy. He's just young, and he's fiercely loyal to his father. I wanted to warn you that they're planning something. It will likely take some time for them to regroup, but they will be coming after your family."

Jaleena studied her for a moment, and then nodded. "I appreciate the heads up, but if you didn't notice when you came in, we've not dropped our security. We have been expecting some sort of retaliation for what happened. We'll be fine." The other woman was silent for a long moment. When she didn't say anything else, Jaleena gestured to the group still watching them. "So why couldn't you have just told me this over the phone?"

Terravin's chin lifted, and she squared her shoulders. "There's one more thing I have to tell you. Tell your friends I mean no harm first."

Jaleena raised her eyebrows expectantly, her annoyance with the other woman clear. To her friends who watched but could not hear, she made the "all clear" gesture, but they didn't stand down. That simple movement was probably the only thing that kept Terravin alive when Jaleena collapsed in a dead faint after the woman's next words.

* * *

It turned out that Gambit didn't return to his room until much later in the day. After his class, he ran into Wolverine who challenged him to a game of basketball. It was a pretty regular occurrence for the men to play one-on-one. It was one of the few activities where they were fairly evenly matched. It was a rare occurrence for them to have the mansion to themselves though.

After three grueling games, Gambit decided today was most certainly not his lucky day. He'd been beaten in all three games, and by that time, both men were tired and hungry. Wolverine suggested that the loser buy lunch, so they'd headed to a sports bar a couple miles from the school. They had eaten and talked about Jubilee, sports, and even a little about what was going on at the Ballenger Academy, where Jaleena worked. In what he called a "moment of pity," Logan had offered to buy a couple rounds. That had turned into a couple hours as they'd gotten wrapped up in a couple games of pool and foosball (where Gambit's luck improved) and several beers. Since his healing ability made it very easy for him to drink (a lot) without getting drunk, Wolverine seemed to like amusing himself by watching other people get drunk. More often than not, Gambit was a very willing participant in this amusement. Since he didn't have anything to worry about until 3 or 4 when he planned on chatting with Leena, the day was no exception.

Sometime around two o'clock, they headed back to the school, Wolverine offering to share more beer and even mentioned the possibility of some loaded nachos. "I just need to grab my phone," Gambit explained as they entered the front door of the mostly-empty mansion. "Remy supposed to talk to Leena in an hour or two. Jus' need to get de time right."

Wolverine shrugged and followed along with him, "How's that romance coming, Cajun? She get tired of starin' at yer ugly mug over a computer screen yet."

Gambit just grinned as they moved down the hallway to his room. "Leena love what she see on de screen." He promised as he slid the key into the lock of his door. "But Jubilee keep interruptin' at least once or twice a week. It nice, but don't leave much alone time."

Wolverine just grunted and followed Gambit into his room, bending to take a couple bottles of water from the small fridge. He tossed one to Remy and opened one himself. "You probably need this more than I do," he laughed.

Gambit juggled it a few times before he caught the bottle, but couldn't quite keep his balance, so he ended up falling back into the chair at his desk. He laughed but opened the bottle and took a long drink. He had drunk quite a few beers, having lost count after the third or fourth pool game. He did recall some challenge about breaking a record, but that part was pretty fuzzy. After draining about half the bottle of water, he toasted the other man, who leaned against the wall to peer more closely at the bulletin board hung there. Jubilee had pinned up a couple pictures of the whole family—one that had been snapped while they were overseas at the Academy, and a few more that were more "posed" from her visit to the X-Men mansion.

Wolverine lifted the corner of one picture that was overlapping another so he could see both. He took a drink from his water bottle and glanced back at Gambit, who was happily sitting at the desk watching him. "You got a good lookin' family, Gumbo."

Gambit laughed, "Dat's only because Jubilee look like her mama."

Wolverine grinned, "You certainly got that part right." He glanced back at the pictures again. "So you gonna get yer phone or what? I'm still hankerin' for some nachos with that really hot salsa Rogue gets from down south."

"Ugh, dat stuff's just terrible." Gambit slurred. "You gonna end up with a hole in your stomach eatin' dat junk."

Wolverine wiggled his eyebrows, "One of the benefits of an overactive healing factor."

Gambit made a face but did turn to pick up his phone. It was blinking, which meant that there was a message for him. As he pulled up the home screen, he frowned. "What de hell?" He asked, "27 missed calls?" There were also close to a dozen text messages and a few voicemails. He flipped through some of the text messages first. They all focused on Jaleena's need to speak to him immediately.

Wolverine moved over closer to the desk to peer over his shoulder, reading a few of the messages as well. He pulled out his own phone and saw there were no missed calls or messages. That meant that Jubilee was fine on the field trip. Before he could say anything, Gambit had dialed. When the call connected, the first thing both men heard was Leena's screeching voice: "You have got to be f-ing kidding me, Remy! I have been waiting for you to call me for over four hours! What the hell are you doing? This isn't funny! Oh my God! How could I think that you could be responsible enough for even ten minutes to call me back when—"

Leena's voice cut off, and they could hear her arguing with another woman in the background. A door slammed, and then they heard Laurel Kellogg, codename Ore, Jaleena's best friend, speak, "Remy? Is everything okay?"

Gambit rubbed at his face, trying to figure out what the hell was going on on the phone while also trying to figure out why the room was spinning so quickly. It had only been lightly twirling when he'd come in and sat down, but now it felt like he was on a Tilt-A-Whirl. When Laurel repeated his name, he remembered he was supposed to be talking to her. "Laurel? What de hell Leena be so upset about?"

There was a pause before Laurel spoke again. "Remy, you need to get here as quickly as you can?"

He sat up straighter in the chair, fighting to focus. "Why? What happen?"

"I can't talk about it. Leena needs to talk to you about it."

"And she can't do dat over de phone?"

There was a pause before Ore said, "No. You need to come. Quickly. Can you leave now?"

He looked up at Wolverine, bewildered. With a sigh, Logan took pity on him and took the phone. "Laurel? It's Logan." He walked a few steps away, made a series of "uh huh" noises as Remy finished off the water in his bottle, forgot that he had done so, and turned the bottle upside down above his head, peering up at it. With a sigh, Logan tossed his own bottle to him, then turned his back, ignoring the inebriated man's antics so that he could focus on the conversation. Finally, he glanced back over his shoulder at Gambit and sighed. Finally, he spoke, "Yeah…. No, he's not in any shape right now… Uh huh…. I'll take care of things on this end. What about Jubilee?" Another "uh huh" and a long pause. He sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "It'll probably take an hour or so, but we'll get in the air as soon as we can….Yeah, I'll keep you updated."

He disconnected the call to find Gambit watching him with narrowed eyes, though he seemed to be struggling to focus. Wolverine moved over and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him up to stand. "Sorry, bud, but it's cold shower time. You gotta start sobering up. We're goin' on a trip."

"Oh," Gambit asked, clearly confused. "Where are we going? Are we going to have the nachos first?"

Logan just sighed and pulled the man up by the arm to lead him to the bathroom.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Storm stepped outside of the large, domed auditorium. Her phone had vibrated several times in the middle of the lecture, so she had decided she'd better find out what was needed. She saw a text and a couple missed calls from Logan, so she hit the redial button and waited. It only rang once before he answered.

"'Ro? I need you to send Jubilee back ASAP."

"That can certainly be arranged," she replied, "Is everything all right?"

Wolverine sighed, "Not exactly. Gumbo's too wasted to walk straight and there's problems at Ballenger. I just talked to Ore, and she said to bring 'em both."

"Wasted?" Storm interrupted. "Logan, it's the middle of the day." She pursed her lips, "Please tell me you didn't make another silly bet with him." She heard the man on the other end of the phone try to cover a choked cough. "You two are worse than the children when you're left unattended."

"Well how was I supposed to know something was going on over there? We were supposed to have the day off." He said defensively. "Anyway, since he's in no shape, I'll fly them over there. An extra pair of claws never hurts when there's trouble."

Storm just rolled her eyes. "I'll see that Rogue brings Jubilee home immediately. Be safe, Logan, and let us know if you need us."

Rogue's feet touched down on the front steps of the mansion, and she bent to set Jubilee on her feet. They pushed through the front doors and headed up the broad staircase. "Go on and pack yer stuff now, Sugah. Ah'll see what's up with Logan and yer daddy." At the top of the steps, Jubilee went right and Rogue went left. She pushed open the door to Gambit's room and sighed when she found him passed out, face down on his bed. Logan came out of the attached bathroom, his hands full of toiletries.

"Really, Logan?" Rogue asked. "Every time we leave you two alone, you get him so drunk he can't even walk. Honestly, Ah don't know how you do it."

The man just shrugged and tossed the items he was carrying into an open suitcase on the desk. "Just finish packin' his stuff and help me get him down to the Blackbird. I'm going to make sure we're fueled up and ready to go." He left the room without another word.

She sighed and looked through the bag, taking her time to go through Gambit's closet to throw in any items she thought were missing. When she finished, she closed and zipped it and set it outside the door. She went back inside to sit down next to the sleeping man, placing a hand on his back. She leaned down to say his name softly and quickly found herself pulled down beside him. He curled himself around her, not really waking up.

She sighed and stared up at the ceiling. What would it hurt to just lay here for a few minutes and enjoy the cuddling? She sighed, patting the hand that lay across her stomach with her gloved one. Poor Remy, she thought. When the door swung open and Jubilee popped her head in, Rogue just rolled her head to the side to look over at her.

Jubilee made a face. "Oookay." She dropped her bags next to Remy's. It wasn't the first time she'd found the two of them cuddling, so the situation really didn't alarm her that much. "Should I come back later?"

Rogue laughed. "No, but you can help me get him up." Just then, Gambit moved closer, leaning his head forward to nuzzle closer to her. Rogue felt a tingle as his nose slid against the skin of her neck, and he jerked back quickly, pulling away so far that he rolled off the other side of the bet. Eventually, he sat up, holding the side of his head and looking dazed. Jubilee giggled and Rogue rolled her eyes as she sat upright. The extra jolt of energy had felt nice—it always did. "It serves you right, you drunk." She mumbled, but she pushed herself to her feet and walked around the bed to wrap his arm around her shoulder and pull him to his feet.

His head lolled against her shoulder, but he had a smile on his face when he saw Jubilee. "Hey Petite. We're going on a trip."

She rolled her eyes and moved into the room to grab his long brown duster. "Yeah, I know that, Remy."

He looked at Rogue as if suddenly realizing she was the reason he was standing. "Hey Anna! When did you get here?"

She just rolled her eyes. "You grab the bags, Jubilee, and I'll get him." They managed to get him downstairs and into the hangar while he sang an off key version of "The Gambler."

Wolverine was coming down the gangway as they came through the door. He jogged over to the group and looked at Jubilee. "You up for co-piloting, pipsqueak?"

"You betcha!" She exclaimed, taking off for the plane. Wolverine reached for the unsteady Cajun, hefting him in his arms and trying to lean away when Gambit leaned close to sing in his face "'Cause every hand's a winner and every hand's a loser!"

"Yeah, yeah, buddy." He said, before turning his attention to Rogue. "Thanks for bringin' Jubilee home. I've had my hands full with him. I'm just prayin' he'll pass out for most of the flight. I don't know how much of this singin' I can take."

Rogue just laughed. "You want some help with him?" She slid under Remy's other arm, and they walked him into the plane and got him settled in one of the seats. Once he was settled, she sat down in the seat next to him and buckled her seatbelt.

Wolverine stood there for a moment, just looking at her in confusion. "You're coming?"

Rogue patted Gambit's hand that rested on the armrest. He'd finished the last of the chorus and was laying his head back with his eyes closed. "Ah think Ah bettah. He normally gets pretty sick after the singing and I doubt flying will help with that. Ah doubt you'll want to deal with that while trying to pilot the plane." She glared at Wolverine. "You'd know that if you ever hung out after getting him into these messes."

Wolverine threw his hands up in the air. "How do I always get blamed for this!?"

Rogue just raised an eyebrow and he muttered a couple curses and headed to the front of the plane. Once he was gone, she reached under her seat for an air sickness bag and twined her fingers with Gambit's. He rolled his head toward her and half-opened his eyes. She smiled at him and used her free hand to brush his hair out of his eyes. "Yer still feeling good, aren't ya, Sugah?" When he gave her a lopsided grin, she chuckled. "Well, enjoy it while ya can. Once ya get some a that poison outta ya, Ah'll help ya get some sleep. How does that sound?" At that point, the Blackbird began to pick up speed before it shot out into the open air. Gambit's only response was to turn green, and Rogue barely got the air sickness bag in place in time.

Jaleena stood anxiously, ringing her hands. It was very early in the morning, and she could see the Blackbird beginning its descent. She felt a soft hand on her shoulder, and she turned to smile at FireStar, the only other person who waited with her. She had been an anxious mess all day, and they'd decided that if she still couldn't sleep by the time they got there, Violet would use her powers to help her rest. FireStar stood with her, ready to get Violet if needed and to make sure everyone else got to their rooms all right.

As soon as they stepped off the plane, Jaleena broke away from the group to hurry forward. Grinning, Jubilee did the same, breaking into a run that ended when she threw herself into her mother's arms, spinning her around. "Oh, thank goodness you're here, darling. I missed you so much," Leena whispered against her daughters head. When they pulled back, they were both a bit misty eyed but smiling happily.

When she looked up, the other three X Men were approaching. She smiled, genuinely happy to see both Rogue and Wolverine. Her gaze was drawn to Gambit though. Trying to push away the awkward nervousness that always seemed to overcome her when she saw him, Jaleena stepped forward to fall into his arms, but stepped back almost immediately, her nose wrinkling. She finally took a good look at him. He looked terrible: pale and tired, not to mention the fact that she could practically smell the alcohol coming out of his pores. She drew in an incredulous breath. "Oh my God! You're drunk? We're in the middle of a crisis, and you decide it's a good time to tie one on? You have got to be kidding me!" Her voice rose to a higher pitch with each word until she was practically screeching at him.

Wincing, he rubbed at his temples where a headache pounded. Stepping forward, he pressed a hand over her mouth, which only made her eyes widen in outrage. When she bit at him, he pulled his hand away to shake it, but quickly sealed his other hand over her mouth before she could start railing at him again. "Save it, Leena. Remy suffering enough right now," he said wearily.

Using her fingernails, she pried his fingers off of her mouth and threw his hand down. Fuming, she sputtered a couple times before turning and taking Jubilee's arm, practically dragging her with her as she stormed away.

Gambit winced when he heard Wolverine begin to laugh heartily. He clapped Gambit hard on the shoulder, making him stumble forward a step. "Well," he said, still chuckling, "that could have gone better."

Gambit only glared at the shorter man. "Dis is all your fault, mon ami. Don't t'ink dat I'll forget it," he grumbled as Firestar led them toward their rooms.

* * *

Sorry things have been so slow so far. The next chapter will have more substance and finally explain what all the fuss is about.


End file.
